Wednesday, 31 July 2019

Planet Symphony unveils SURE Project with musical event

Parampara and The International Foundation for Carnatic Music’s environmental wing, Planet Symphony will jointly present the maiden concert of young violinist, Srinath Hariharan as an Event for Environment (EfE) with celebrated Indian musicians Akkarai Subhalakshmi & Sornalatha, Neyveli Narayanan and Ghatam Karthick on 28th July at Shastri Hall, Mylapore, graced by eminent violinist V V Subrahmanyam and V V Sundaram, the brains behind the world-famous Cleveland Festival.

The event will also unveil the Planet Symphony’s Scientific Urban Roofscaping for Environment (SURE) initiative to save thousands of cities and towns from water-shortage by attracting rain first and enabling citizens to harvest it much more effectively. Further , it can minimise flooding, purify air, lower indoor temperatures by at least 1°C (outdoor shade temperatures by several degrees more) & reduce strain on air-cons, lower energy bills and decrease greenhouse contributions.

Saving cities

“This is a significant occasion and a great opportunity for young Srinath to perform with top artists and also draw attention to important Climate Solutions”, said Chitravina N Ravikiran. “Millions of citizens suffer because of rain-deficits or floods, barely breathable air, unreliable power supply and high tariffs but the SURE project can turn it all around for them. The best news is that its return on investment is exponential in enhancing the quality of life and also saving the planet from an Environmental Meltdown.”SURE is a 3-step process: (a) literally having 6--75% potted plants or terrace gardens to cover the roofs of any building away from or taller than the nearest trees (b) figuratively going green with solar panels and (c) installing roof-rain water harvesting.

Holistic training

“It is a privilege for Srinath to be part of this green initiative with world famous artists”, says his father, Hariharan. “He has passionately striven to develop his knowledge of classical music since the age of six. He began learning under Bhargavi Balasubramanian in 2014 and from Ravikiran sir in 2015 but his earlier training in with Western Classical instilled perseverance, confidence and a spirit to meet challenges that has percolated to his pursuit of Carnatic too.”

Srinath, a top-prize winner in premiere competitions such as the Cleveland Thyagaraja Festival, Carnatic Premier League and Minnesota Carnatic Star will first present a solo and then accompany the vocal concert of the celebrated Akkarai Sisters. “This is the true test of whether a Carnatic violinist is concert-worthy and this is the trend we have set for violin debuts”, said Ravikiran.

Srinath’s older sister, Ranjani (who made her debut last year as a vocalist) inspired him to replicate whatever she sang on the violin. “Under the holistic and innovative tutelage of his gurus Srinath has learned the importance of discipline, which has increased his focus in academics too”, says Chithra, mother of Srinath. “We are eager to see where his passion and resilience takes him next”.

“I have mentored several performing and prize-winning tele-students over the last 15 years”, Bhargavi, a member of the IFCM faculty said. “Srinath has immense potential and I was able to step him up from primary level to middle level within a few weeks. It’s a proud moment for me to present him in this significant event for Chennai audiences”.

Macro-Vision 2030

The Planet Symphony (https://www.facebook.com/groups/planetsymphony), with members from 65 countries has a mission and vision to catalyse and support initiatives aligned to its Macro-Vision 2030 with global reforestation with 36-54 billion trees, 200,000 sq miles of Solar, recovery of water bodies besides projects like SURE. Parampara is one of the most progressive cultural organisations in the country and aligned to the Art-for-Environment mission of Planet Symphony.

“The Cleveland festival was one of the first to go green over 15 years ago and we strongly believe that the climate science should not be ignored or denied, if we are to save the planet”, said by V V Sundaram